Richard on the couch

Now that Richard III's body has been identified, experts are probing his mind. In a paper presented March 2, 2013 at the University of Leicester, Professor Mark Lansdale and forensic psychologist Dr Julian Boon offered an analysis of Richard III's character.

The experts' findings show that the king may have had "'intolerance to uncertainty syndrome' – which may have manifested in control freak tendencies."

Professor Mark Lansdale said: "This syndrome is associated with a need to seek security following an insecure childhood, as Richard had. In varying degrees, it is associated with a number of positive aspects of personality including a strong sense of right and wrong, piety, loyalty to trusted colleagues, and a belief in legal processes - all exhibited by Richard.

"On the negative side it is also associated with fatalism, a tendency to disproportionate responses when loyalty is betrayed and a general sense of 'control freakery' that can, in extreme cases, emerge as very authoritarian or possibly priggish. We believe this is an interesting perspective on Richard's character."